SPORTS VISION TRAINING

By J. Beede

Sports Vision Training is an often overlooked component of a sport-specific training regimen. Quite simply, sports vision training can help you become a better athlete. In order to become a peak-performing athlete in any sport, you've got to have hawk-like vision and great reaction time. That being said, here are some drills and exercises that are guaranteed to improve your vision... and thus, improve your sports performance.

Sports Vision Drill #1: Contrast and Focus Exercises

For this drill, purchase or paint a ball that is a similar color to the background you are going to be playing in. For example, paint your hockey puck white, your soccer ball green, your racquetball white, or your baseball a reddish-earth color. This is going to essentially camouflage the ball you're playing with!

"Why on earth would you do this?" you may be asking yourself. It's quite simple, really. By forcing the eye to distinguish between the object and the background, you are going to develop a stronger sports vision. The difference will be dramatic when you have a clearly distinguished object from background, and your performance will improve.

When pitched the ball, you must make a split-second decision about which color means which action. This will start off being very difficult, however, with time, you will strengthen neural pathways that process input-to-action, making your overall reaction times faster.

Sports Vision Drill #3: Limited Vision Exercises

While practicing your sport, put on a pair of goggles with the peripheral vision blocked out. Simply duct tape over the sides of the goggles. This will greatly reduce visibility. When the goggles are removed, you will feel like your field of vision is greatly improved!

By doing sports vision training drills and exercises like these, you can greatly improve your athletic performance... so get started!